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Leno Blesses ‘Tonight Show’ Succession Plan

Steve Burke had seen enough. For months, the NBC chief executive had been involved in efforts to create a smooth transition at the “Tonight” show. Yet for most of March, after Jay Leno had been taken to task by a network executive over jokes about NBC’s poor ratings, the news media were full of reports that the network once again was mishandling its most storied late-night franchise.

Mr. Burke decided to step in personally, flying to Los Angeles on Palm Sunday to meet face to face with Mr. Leno and his longtime executive producer, Debbie Vickers. In the end Mr. Burke came away with the deal he had been seeking: In February “The Tonight Show” will begin a new era when Jimmy Fallon succeeds Mr. Leno as host of the most successful program in late-night television.

NBC announced Wednesday that it plans to install Mr. Fallon as the show’s sixth host at the conclusion of the network’s coverage of the 2014 Winter Olympics from Sochi, Russia. NBC also confirmed reports that it plans to shake up the television industry by moving the show from its longtime home in Los Angeles to its birthplace, New York. The announcement came after weeks of reports that the changes were imminent and speculation about behind-the-scenes friction between NBC and Mr. Leno. The tensions over the “Tonight” succession stretch back to Mr. Leno’s first departure in 2009 and the tumultuous transition to Conan O’Brien that followed. That move ended with Mr. O’Brien leaving the network after eight months on the show and Mr. Leno resuming his role as host.

But Mr. Leno said in an interview: “The main difference between this and the other time is I’m part of the process. The last time the decision was made without me. I came into work one day and — you’re out.” This time around “there really aren’t any complications like there were the last time,” he added. “This time it feels right.”

“Clearly our goal has been to make this a smooth transition,” Mr. Burke said in a telephone interview. “Jay deserves to be treated like someone who has done a wonderful thing for our company for two decades.”

To underscore that commitment Mr. Burke contacted Mr. Leno late last month to try to quell a dispute between Mr. Leno and Robert Greenblatt, the top NBC entertainment executive in Los Angeles. Mr. Greenblatt had irritated the host by questioning why he was making barbed jokes about the network’s ratings. After that incident Mr. Leno and Ms. Vickers began to feel isolated from NBC’s West Coast management.

Mr. Burke assured Mr. Leno that he wanted him to feel comfortable with the transition plan, and that he could stay on to the last day of his contract in September 2014, if that was his choice.

Mr. Leno said he told Mr. Burke: “I appreciate that, but it’s not really necessary. And I don’t want to make it harder for Jimmy. I want to hand off something that’s going to make it easier.”

Mr. Leno said he suggested, “If we really want to give him a good send-off, how about after the Olympics?” He said the Winter Games in February would give NBC the chance to promote the new host to big audiences and avoid more competitive start-up times like the summer. “ ‘The Tonight Show’ was No. 1 when I got it,” Mr. Leno said. “I’ve kept it No. 1 for about 90 percent of my term here, and I would like to see Jimmy keep it at No. 1, which I’m sure he will.”

Mr. Fallon, meanwhile, was waiting for the smoke to clear. His contract for his own NBC show, “Late Night,” had two years left to run, taking him into 2015. He decided to concentrate on his show, stepping back and allowing Mr. Leno and NBC to decide on a plan. He said he never wanted any part of pushing anyone to do anything. “I just kind of wanted to keep doing my job well,” he said.

Amid the overheated rumors of the past month Mr. Fallon said he and Mr. Leno talked frequently and made sure they remained on friendly terms. “I have nothing but respect for Jay,” Mr. Fallon said. “If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have a show to be taking over.”

Lorne Michaels, Mr. Fallon’s executive producer and someone who is often at the center of NBC late-night maneuvers, said Mr. Leno had been gracious toward Mr. Fallon. “What has been key to this transition has been the absolute consideration for everyone’s feelings by all involved,” Mr. Michaels said. “It has been a transparent process.”

What was quietly set early on, though, was the decision to move the show back to New York. Mr. Fallon had spoken with NBC and Mr. Michaels about his desire to stay in New York if he became the “Tonight” host. Mr. Burke liked the idea.

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Big Change Confirmed for ‘Tonight’ Show

The Times’s Bill Carter reports after interviewing Jay Leno and Jimmy Fallon about who will be hosting “The Tonight Show.”

“It starts from who Jimmy is,” he said. “Jimmy is a New York guy, and the idea of having a show that is in the city Jimmy has always lived in and has Jimmy’s sensibility made sense.”

Mr. Michaels, who has been producing late-night television at NBC’s headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Center since he created “Saturday Night Live” in 1975, endorsed the idea. “There’s no place in the world better to do a show than 30 Rock,” he said. “I know that because I do one every week.”

Mr. Leno said he had concluded on his own that his current contract would most likely be his last for “The Tonight Show,” though that point was unspoken at the time he signed. He did not deny that he takes pride in his long success at “Tonight,” which often came in the face of persistent critics and doubters.

“I’m glad I’ve kept it No. 1,” Mr. Leno said. “When I started people said, ‘Oh the only reason you’re winning is because of ‘ER,’ or ‘The only reason you’re winning is because Hugh Grant came on and said that one thing.’ Well, at least now I can say the only reason we’re winning is ’cause we’re winning.”

Mr. Leno will be 64 in 2014. After leaving “Tonight,” he said, he expects to be “back on the road, being a comedian again.”

It is a life Mr. Leno has never really left, one he shares with his wife, Mavis, who frequently travels with him. “I know what my priorities are,” he said. “I have the same friends from high school. I have had the same wife for 33 years. When times are good, you have fun. When times are bad, you put your head down and work.”

His strong belief in just doing the work is one reason some who have worked with him suggested he could never step away from the nightly quest to tell a great monologue joke. But he dismissed suggestions that he would seek out another television show — at least for now.

“There are a lot of things to do,” Mr. Leno said. “I’ve done this job for a long time, and I really enjoy it. Would I do it again? Believe me, the phone’s not ringing off the hook. It will be nice if people seem interested. But I’ll let it sit where it is.”

Correction: April 3, 2013

An earlier version of this article misstated the length of Conan O’Brien’s tenure hosting “The Tonight Show.” It was eight months, not nine weeks.

A version of this article appears in print on April 4, 2013, on page C1 of the New York edition with the headline: Leno Blesses ‘Tonight Show’ Succession Plan. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe